scholarly journals Weak and uneven associations of home, neighborhood and school environments with stress hormone output across multiple time scales

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita Malanchini ◽  
Laura E. Engelhardt ◽  
Laurel Raffington ◽  
Aditi Sabhlok ◽  
Andrew D. Grotzinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Social Disadvantage ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Diurnal Fluctuation ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Stress Hormone ◽  
Concentrated Poverty

ABSTRACTThe progression of lifelong trajectories of socioeconomic inequalities in health and mortality begins in childhood. Dysregulation in cortisol, a stress hormone that is the primary output of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, has been hypothesized to be a mechanism for how early environmental adversity compromises health. However, despite the popularity of cortisol as a biomarker for stress and adversity, little is known about whether cortisol output differs in children being raised in socioeconomically disadvantaged environments. Here, we show that there are few differences between advantaged and disadvantaged children in their cortisol output. In 8- to 14-year-old children from the population-based Texas Twin Project, we measured cortisol output at three different time-scales: (1) diurnal fluctuation in salivary cortisol (n = 400), (2) salivary cortisol reactivity and recovery after exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test (n = 444), and (3) and cortisol concentration in hair (n = 1,210). These measures converged on two moderately correlated, yet distinguishable, dimensions of HPA function. We then tested differences in cortisol output across nine aspects of social disadvantage at the home (e.g., family socioeconomic status), school (e.g., average levels of academic achievement), and neighborhood (e.g., concentrated poverty). Children living in neighborhoods with higher concentrated poverty had higher diurnal cortisol output, as measured in saliva; otherwise, child cortisol output was unrelated to any other aspect of social disadvantage. Overall, we find limited support for alteration in HPA axis functioning as a general mechanism for the health consequences of socioeconomic inequality in childhood.

Asymmetry of salivary cortisol and α-amylase responses to psychosocial stress in anorexia nervosa but not in bulimia nervosa

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1963-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Monteleone ◽  
P. Scognamiglio ◽  
B. Canestrelli ◽  
I. Serino ◽  
A. M. Monteleone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
First Time

BackgroundThe stress response involves the activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). As a role for stress in determining of the onset and the natural course of eating disorders (EDs) has been proposed, the study of the psychobiology of the stress response in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) should be helpful in understanding the pathophysiology of these disorders. The two neurobiological components of the stress response can be easily explored in humans by the measurement of salivary cortisol and α-amylase response to a stressor. Therefore, we assessed salivary cortisol and α-amylase responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in symptomatic patients with AN and BN compared to healthy controls.MethodSeven AN women, eight BN women and eight age-matched healthy females underwent the TSST between 1530 and 1700 h. Salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).ResultsCompared to healthy women, AN patients showed a normal cortisol response to the TSST, although this occurred at significantly increased hormone levels, and an almost complete absence of response of α-amylase. BN women, however, exhibited enhanced pre-stress levels of salivary α-amylase but a normal response of the enzyme and cortisol to the TSST.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate, for the first time, the occurrence of an asymmetry between the HPA axis and SNS components of the stress response in the acute phase of AN but not in BN. The pathophysiological significance of this asymmetry remains to be determined.

SOME REMARKS ON THE MULTIPLE TIME SCALES OF DIFFUSION IN MINERALS AND MELTS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liang ◽  
◽  
Daniele J. Cherniak ◽  
Chenguang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time

Immunoassay or LC-MS/MS for the measurement of salivary cortisol in children?

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoon Ju Bae ◽  
Alexander Gaudl ◽  
Sonia Jaeger ◽  
Stephanie Stadelmann ◽  
Andreas Hiemisch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Externalizing Disorders ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Kinetic Assay ◽  
The Difference

AbstractBackground:Dysregulation of the adrenal cortex has been assessed with measurement of salivary cortisol. So far salivary cortisol is routinely measured with immunoassay (IA). However, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS) is known to offer better specificity. We compared the concentrations of salivary cortisol measured by MS and IA at basal and stress induced conditions and evaluated reasons for the difference in method-dependent cortisol results.Methods:Saliva samples (n=2703) were collected from 169 children (age range: 8–14 years; 81 healthy children; 55 with internalizing and 33 with externalizing disorders) under circadian conditions and during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). Biochemical analyses were performed with MS for cortisol and cortisone, IA (IBL, RE62011) for cortisol, and enzyme kinetic assay for α-amylase.Results:MS and IA showed mostly comparable results for circadian activity and TSST-C response with similar statistical power. However, IA measured cortisol concentrations about 2.39-fold higher than MS. We found that this difference in measured values between MS and IA was mainly due to different standardization of IA compared to MS. In addition, at cortisol IA concentration below 5 nmol/L, cross-reactivity with cortisone was found to contribute to the lower concordance between MS and IA.Conclusions:Immunoassay and LC-MS/MS were largely comparable in the interpretation of salivary cortisol dynamics in stress research. But the IA method revealed a restricted accuracy in the measuring range below 5 nmol/L.

scholarly journals Adverse childhood experiences, daytime salivary cortisol, and depressive symptoms in early adulthood: a longitudinal genetically informed twin study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Iob ◽  
Jessie R. Baldwin ◽  
Robert Plomin ◽  
Andrew Steptoe
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
Cortisol Levels

AbstractDysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis function might underlie the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depression. However, limited research has examined the possible mediating role of the HPA-axis among young people using longitudinal data. Moreover, it remains unclear whether genetic influences could contribute to these associations. Participants were 290 children from the Twins Early Development Study. ACEs were assessed from age 3–11 years. We calculated a cumulative risk score and also derived different ACEs clusters using factor analysis and latent class analysis. HPA-axis activity was indexed by daytime salivary cortisol at age 11. Depressive symptoms were ascertained at age 21. Genetic liability to altered cortisol levels and elevated depressive symptoms was measured using a twin-based method. We performed causal mediation analysis with mixed-effects regression models. The results showed that ACEs cumulative exposure (b = −0.20, p = 0.03), bullying (b = −0.61, p = 0.01), and emotional abuse (b = −0.84, p = 0.02) were associated with lower cortisol levels at age 11. Among participants exposed to multiple ACEs, lower cortisol was related to higher depressive symptoms at age 21 (b = −0.56, p = 0.05). Lower cortisol levels mediated around 10–20% of the total associations of ACEs cumulative exposure, bullying, and dysfunctional parenting/emotional abuse with higher depressive symptoms. Genetic factors contributed to these associations, but the mediation effects of cortisol in the associations of ACEs cumulative exposure (b = 0.16 [0.02–0.34]) and bullying (b = 0.18 [0.01–0.43]) remained when genetic confounding was accounted for. In conclusion, ACEs were linked to elevated depressive symptoms in early adulthood partly through lower cortisol levels in early adolescence, and these relationships were independent of genetic confounding.

scholarly journals Are We Doing ‘Systems’ Research? An Assessment of Methods for Climate Change Adaptation to Hydrohazards in a Complex World

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Bedinger ◽  
Lindsay Beevers ◽  
Lila Collet ◽  
Annie Visser
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Systems Research

Climate change is a product of the Anthropocene, and the human–nature system in which we live. Effective climate change adaptation requires that we acknowledge this complexity. Theoretical literature on sustainability transitions has highlighted this and called for deeper acknowledgment of systems complexity in our research practices. Are we heeding these calls for ‘systems’ research? We used hydrohazards (floods and droughts) as an example research area to explore this question. We first distilled existing challenges for complex human–nature systems into six central concepts: Uncertainty, multiple spatial scales, multiple time scales, multimethod approaches, human–nature dimensions, and interactions. We then performed a systematic assessment of 737 articles to examine patterns in what methods are used and how these cover the complexity concepts. In general, results showed that many papers do not reference any of the complexity concepts, and no existing approach addresses all six. We used the detailed results to guide advancement from theoretical calls for action to specific next steps. Future research priorities include the development of methods for consideration of multiple hazards; for the study of interactions, particularly in linking the short- to medium-term time scales; to reduce data-intensivity; and to better integrate bottom–up and top–down approaches in a way that connects local context with higher-level decision-making. Overall this paper serves to build a shared conceptualisation of human–nature system complexity, map current practice, and navigate a complexity-smart trajectory for future research.

scholarly journals Childhood Adversities and Salivary Cortisol Responses to the Trier Social Stress Test: A Systematic Review of Studies Using the Children Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ)

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Chuk Ling Julian Lai ◽  
Daryl Yu Heng Lee ◽  
Monique On Yee Leung
Keyword(s):  
Salivary Cortisol ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cortisol Response ◽  
Childhood Adversities ◽  
Social Stressors ◽  
Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽  
Cortisol Responses

Alteration in cortisol response to acute social stressors has been hypothesized to mediate childhood adversities (CA) and increased morbidity in adulthood. However, the evidence supporting an association between CA and cortisol response to social stressors is inconclusive. The present review addressed this issue by reviewing the literature on CA and cortisol response to acute social stressors, with a focus on studies with adolescents or adults, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to assess CA, and examining salivary cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Systematic searches of relevant articles in PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science and ScienceDirect in February and March 2020 identified 12 articles including 1196 participants with mean ages ranging from 15.3 to 52.3 yrs. across studies. CTQ scores were significantly associated with cortisol response in 2 studies. In addition, the physical abuse and emotional neglect subscales were associated with cortisol response respectively in 2 separate studies. The lack of association between CA and cortisol response calls for more longitudinal studies, and the use of formal records of maltreatment or informant reports in future research to complement information collected by retrospective measures. In addition, increased attention to biological mechanisms other than that associated with the regulation of cortisol in explaining the connection between CA and psychiatry morbidity is warranted.

scholarly journals A multistate model incorporating estimation of excess hazards and multiple time scales

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 2139-2154
Author(s):  
Caroline E. Weibull ◽  
Paul C. Lambert ◽  
Sandra Eloranta ◽  
Therese M. L. Andersson ◽  
Paul W. Dickman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Multistate Model
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document